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Monstro
Monstro is an enormous whale and the villain of the climax of Pinocchio. While Pinocchio spends the night in Stromboli's troupe and, later, Pleasure Island, Gepetto searches for his son. Taking to sea, the toymaker, Figaro and Cleo are swallowed whole (complete with boat) by Monstro. The whale later swallows Pinocchio, when the little wooden boy comes searching for his father. Monstro has a reputation as a "whale of a whale" and is feared by all the creatures of the sea. In Pinocchio, Monstro was animated by Wolfgang Reitherman. The whale also appears in Kingdom Hearts. Pinocchio Asleep Monstro is first mentioned in the film when Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket receive a message from the Blue Fairy that the whale has swallowed Gepetto, Figaro and Cleo when the toymaker took to sea in search of his son. The three are still alive, inside Monstro's belly. Against Jiminy's warnings, Pinocchio resolves to find and rescue Gepetto. Though Jiminy tries to dissuade Pinocchio, warning that Monstro is "a whale of a whale... he swallows ships whole!", he does not hesitate to join the wooden boy in his search at the bottom of the sea. The two search for Monstro; mention of the whale's name causes the sea creatures to flee in terror. Meanwhile, in Monstro's belly, Gepetto and Figaro are trying to catch fish to eat. The toymaker tells Figaro that he fears that they will starve in the belly of the sleeping whale. Swallowing Pinocchio Monstro wakes at the sight of a school of tuna swimming nearby. Opening his great eyes, the whale pursues the fish, mouth open, tearing through the ocean. When Pinocchio sees Monstro approaching, he flees for his life, pushing past the tuna, though he is nevertheless consumed by the beast. The sprightly Jiminy escapes the creature's jaws, but, on discovery that Pinocchio has been swallowed, tries to enter Monstro's now closed mouth. Inside the whale's belly, Pinocchio, reunited with his father, proposes that they escape in a raft (constructed by Gepetto) when Monstro opens his mouth. When told that "everything comes in... nothing goes out" of Monstro's jaws, the wooden boy suggests that they start a fire to make the whale sneeze. The Chase Monstro once again opens his eyes, this time to find smoke rising from his blowhole. He begins taking deep breaths; while his mouth is open, Pinocchio, Gepetto and the pets try to escape; they succeed when Monstro finally sneezes, sending them flying out to the sea. After another powerful sneeze, an enraged Monstro pursues the raft while Pinocchio and Gepetto row for their lives. Monstro dives underwater and emerges underneath the raft; Pinoccho and his father row away in time, but when Monstro leaps after them, they are forced to jump into the sea. The whale smashes the raft into pieces with his tail. Pinocchio saves his father from drowning and pulls him to shore, with Monstro in hot pursuit. As the whale builds up speed, the waves drifting from the cliffs of the shore hinder Pinocchio. Monstro leaps into the air, aiming to consume and kill the two. Finally, paddling madly, the wooden boy swims through the hole in the cliffs just as Monstro strikes the rock. The force sends Pinocchio and Gepetto flying onto the beach. As the toymaker comes to, Jiminy, Figaro and Cleo are washed onto the shore. Pinocchio, however, has been killed by the blow. The puppet is later brought back to life, and turned into a real boy, by the Blue Fairy. Behind the Scenes Design Joe Grant's Character Model Department was responsible for the design of Monstro the whale. Models were constructed both of Monstro himself and of his belly, complete with skeleton.John Canemaker, "Before the Animation Begins: The Life and Times of Disney inspirational Sketch Artists" (Hyperion, New York, 1999) ISBN 0-7868-6152-5 In addition, inspirational sketch artist Gustaf Tenggren created a watercolour of Gepetto in Monstro's belly.Bruno Girveau (editor), Once Upon a Time - Walt Disney: The Sources of inspiration for the Disney Studios (Prestel, London, 2006) ISBN 978-3-7913-3770-8 ]] Animation The animation of Monstro was originally to be assigned to Vladimir Tytla (animator of Doc, Grumpy, Stromboli and, later, Yensid, Chernabog and Dumbo), but, perhaps out of worry that Tytla might get carried away, Disney eventually assigned Wolfgang Reitherman to the task. He animated Monstro as a cunning creature with a brain, making his pursuit of his prey all the more frightening. To Reitherman can also be attributed, to an extent, the timing and staging of Monstro's chase sequences, which were timed to suggest the whale's great weight and power. Reitherman drew a set of sketches for a discarded sequence showing Monstro consuming Gepetto's boat; Monstro was to emerge suddenly on the otherwise serene sea scene, first looking like a large mound before revealing his teeth and swallowing the boat in one movement before disappearing underwater once more.John Canemaker, "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation" (Disney Editions, United States, 2001) ISBN 078686496-6 References Category:Villains Category:Beasts Category:Pinocchio Category:Pinocchio locations Category:Characters in the Disney animated features canon Category:Pinocchio villains